The Strategic Framework for 2012-2022 expands the GMS Program from conventional infrastructure to multi-sector investments designed to foster economic corridor development, involving stronger cross-sectoral linkages, better consideration of regional economic development’s spatial aspects, more local stakeholder involvement, and more effective monitoring and evaluation.

In 2017, a midterm review of the Strategic Framework 2012-2022 was conducted to ensure the program’s continued effectiveness and responsiveness. The review set the directions and operational focus for the remaining 5 years of the strategic framework. These will be embodied in the Ha Noi Action Plan 2018-2022, which calls for an expansion of economic corridors to boost connectivity between countries and within rural and urban centers to ensure the benefits of economic growth will be more broadly distributed.

The GMS Program is managed by an institutional mechanism, involving both the political and operational levels of the six GMS member countries. The program is based on continuing consultation and dialogue among GMS member countries. The institutional arrangements for the GMS Program are pragmatic and flexible, and guided only by a general set of principles. The GMS institutional structure has three levels: